Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Hope

How many times do you read in the scriptures, something about hope? If you notice, a common thread through out the Bible is hope. The beautiful passage quoted by Jesus on the cross, Psalm 22, starts out "my God my God, why have you forsaken me" ends with a cry of hope, of victory, "all will see that you have done it!" It amazing the things some people went through in the scriptures and still believed that God was good to them, they still had hope. I think sometimes we lose that, at least I do. The promise of reconciliation becomes little more than a pipe dream to me. Does that ever happen to you? think about it.

It's easy to talk about things getting better but we don't live it. We settle for things the way they are. We settle for ourselves the way we are when God is telling us we are so much more. The word hope carries alot of meaning. For me to hope in something I have to actualy believe it can happen. A Christian is someone who has hope, who believes that somehow, someway things are not always going to be so hard.

God is leading us to restoration, where all creation will be reconciled to Him, where all this pain and suffering will end and the flames of Hell will be extinguished. All the good that was created in the beginning will explode into its fullness, into the way God, who is perfect and good, wants it to be. For me to hope in this is bigger than some idealistic belief, it's living as if it's true.

Do you live as if the cross saved you or do you fall for the lie that you are nothing more than a sinner? Holiness is not something we need in order to be saved it's what we are when we live in the salvation we already have.

Jesus died on the cross because of hope. Jesus lived as if He really would be vindicated, seen "riding on the clouds of heaven."

There's a verse that's been "working on me," as Rob Bell would say, ever sence I read it for my exodus deuteronomy class this morning.

"This night had been reserved by the LORD to bring his people out from the land of Egypt, so this same night now belongs to him. It must be celebrated every year, from generation to generation, to remember the LORD's deliverance." exodus 12.42

How often do we celebrate the LORD's deliverance? Do our lives celbrate His work, our exodus from the curse? Do we hope in His promise or are we begging to go back to Egypt because we've lost our hope?

Quote of the "Day"

"Peace will come through dialogue, through trust and respect for others who are different, through inner strength and a spirituality of love, patience, humility, and forgiveness. Little by little, a culture of competition will be transformed into a culture of welcome and mutual respect." -Jean Vanier